Research Blog - Sustainable De-growth

I'm still in search of the "glue" for my project so I've been doing more research and I came across an artist whose work really interested me, Sebastian Lemm, I will talk about in him my next posting but I would like to include one of his images here because I think he is working very similarly to how I want to work.

Sebastien Lemm
lapse # 1
Lambda c-print on Fuji Crystal Archive
Diasec, 25x30" (63.5x76 cm) and 48x60" (121x152 cm)
edition of 5
2004

But for now, I want to talk about sustainable de-growth. I've been reading about how 20% of the population consumes 80% of our resources. And though a lot of work is being done for sustainable development, for this 20% any more development can not be done sustainably. For this percent I propose that de-growth is necessary and want to suggest the concepts of simple living and downshifting as a solution. De-growth is an idea first written about by economist Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen, other proponents include Ghandi, Tolstoy, and Thoreau. I think these are ideas I might want to include or hint at in my work. Simple living basically suggests that more is not better and downshifting, as a method of achieving this, emphasizes comfortable moderate changes in order to arrive at slower lifestyle. I think I'm going to read up on some Thoreau and Tolstoy.
I also want to talk about water. I am becoming more and more keen to including water somehow as a key component of my work. I've read that water is a central element of a lot of environmental art, just as it is an essential element for life. Most religions see water as a purifier and many participate in ritual washing as a form of ablution. It is the most destructive force on earth but it also has properties on the other side of the spectrum; it can be very calm and inspire peace and tranquility.